Gary Frank: A Return to Brainiac

With Action Comics #866, readers got their first peek into the
world of an updated Brainiac, the Superman villain who has plagued the
hero's life for dozens of comic book stories.

With pencils by Gary Frank giving the character a creepy, horror slant, the story by Action Comics
writer Geoff Johns is both reintroducing classic elements of the
villain while modernizing the character. His collection of bottled
shrunken cities littering his spaceship, the Brainiac in this issue had
the feel of something cold, uncompromising and relentlessly powerful.

Promised in solicitations as the story arc that will build up to the
"Superman event of 2008" -- which Johns and Superman scribe James
Robinson have indicated will include a crossover between their titles
and the Supergirl ongoing -- the Brainiac storyline also re-introduced
a supporting cast for Clark and Lois Kent at the Daily Planet, as well
as foreshadowing a turn for the worse in the lives of Jonathan and
Martha Kent.

Newsarama talked to Frank about his Brainiac redesign, how he
distinguishes Clark Kent from Superman, and what he and Johns hope to
achieve through this story for both Brainiac and Superman himself.

Newsarama: Let's talk first about this update of Brainiac. What
can you tell us about the way you approached drawing these scenes
featuring Brainiac?

Gary Frank: Geoff and I speak quite a lot before and during each
issue and we tend to have a pretty good idea what needs to be
happening. Geoff was very clear that this Brainiac must, above all
else, be scary. He talked about [artist H.R.] Giger being a good
starting place, so I went with that. I thought it was important that
everything associated with Brainiac should have a particular flavor so
if, for instance, Brainiac's bicycle showed up in issue 999, it would
be immediately clear where it came from. If something it is black,
shiny, bio-metallic with pink strip-lighting, it's probably Brainiac's.

After that, we talked about how Brainiac himself would be portrayed. We
basically have a guy who doesn't move for centuries but lives an
internal life of the mind. I thought it might be cool to give him
something like a cocoon. When we were dealing with Colu in the last arc
we talked about a society that functioned almost like a beehive or an
ants' nest so the insect parallels were already suggesting themselves.
As for Brainiac out of the cocoon, that was a little more complicated.
At first I wanted to just do an update on his original look but It just
came out looking way too camp (I later sent the sketch to everyone else
for a chuckle and it has since become known as "Disco Brainiac") which
was not really where we wanted to go.

I won't go into too much detail about the final solution since it has yet to appear in the book.

NRAMA:
As the city of Kandor was ripped from Krypton in the opening scene,
were you going for a horror sci-fi movie feel? Is this what Brainiac
represents?

GF: Yes, definitely. Brainiac is unstoppable, implacable
destruction. You cannot appeal to Brainiac for mercy. He just takes and
destroys. That's it. We wanted to show the human consequencs- the
death, the destruction of families etc. These things arise not from
spite or anger or revenge. This is just what Brainiac does. If he shows
up on your doorstep, this is what will happen as sure as night follows
day and you don't even have to piss him off first.

NRAMA: The Brainiac ship and figure we see at the end of the
comic has a more creepy feel about it. What was your approach to this
scene and why?

GF: It was really based on the old version of the ship but with
the new design language applied. It's still essentially a flying skull
with tentacles but we've carried over the dark, more organic looking
elements. There should always be a feeling that a piece of
Brainiac-tech may or may not be alive.

NRAMA: There's a lot of detail in these robotic figures. Did it
take you forever to draw this stuff? Or what's the bigger challenge --
getting the figures right, the emotional reactions right, or drawing
all the tiny parts of a robot?

GF: Yeah, that was all a huge mistake on my part. I had a lot of
fun drawing this very heavily detailed stuff on the first few pages and
then realized that I'd made a rod for my (and Jon's) back.

Seriously,
yeah, it takes a lot of time to get that surface detail in. I don't
know if I'd say it's harder than drawing figures or emotions but it's
certainly more time consuming. There's more satisfaction in nailing an
expression or a piece of body language, though. With the robots, the
only satisfaction comes from knowing that I'm keeping Jonathan Sibal
from a life of crime (he won't have time).

NRAMA: In the Daily Planet scene, your pencils bring to life
Clark Kent in a way that makes his character distinct from the
character of Superman. Do you see them as different characters when you
draw them? What is the difference visually?

GF: Oh, the big debate. This is the one subject guaranteed to
rile a portion of Superfandom. For some reason, Superman seems to be
held to higher standards on the subject of secret/super identities than
other superheroes. No one ever says "Peter Parker was a nerdy kid. He
can't possibly be Spider-Man, attract a good-looking gal, work in a
newspaper, etc." And no one gets hung up on whether his nerdiness is a
disguise.

For some reason, a lot of people can't get their heads around a guy who
is confident and secure in one sphere of his life and yet feels awkward
in another. I personally know a guy who could almost be a blueprint for
this type of character.

The way I see it, there are a number of factors which are responsible
for the contrast between the two identities. First, but perhaps least
important, is the fact that he needs to be the last person one would
suspect of being Superman. So this is the reason for the more extreme
acts of clumsiness/goofiness. He consciously wants to make a specific
impression.

Secondly, there is the environment that he grew up in. He was brought
up in the country by good, honest folks. He suddenly finds himself in
the big city working in an extremely high-pressure environment full of
office politics, back-biting, etc. Naturally he is something of a fish
out of water.

Finally,
he is Superman. He can level cities and go toe-to-toe with gods. These
are not necessarily the skills that are going to help you get through
the day in a nine-to-five workplace. He finds himself surrounded by
people who are all at least as proficient as he is at making their way
in this environment. Plus they all have motivations and drives that he,
in his simple, honest goodness, is going to have a little trouble
understanding. Clark always sees the best in (and expects the best
from) people so he is often going to be a little confused by the
reality.

In short, Superman exudes confidence because history has shown him that
he will almost always win out if he keeps going. Clark, on the other
hand, has learned that dealing with people can be confusing,
disappointing and nowhere near as easy as punching things.

I think it's a mistake to try to pin-down one particular reason for a
person's personality. Don't we all, for many reasons, act differently
in different circumstances and with different people?

NRAMA: That was a great shot Clark made with the donut. When Clark Kent plays trash can basketball, does he always make it?

GF: Every time. He is Superman.

NRAMA: The classic shot of Clark taking off the glasses and
loosening his tie to show the Superman symbol on his chest -- it's
given a whole page here. Is there an effort on your part (and Geoff's)
to make this comic feel iconic? Some people see that as a weakness of
Superman -- he's iconic to the point where he's almost boring. Do you
disagree? Is this iconic moment a strength, as it seems to be played
here with a full page?

GF: Oh, certainly. The iconic thing is only a problem if people
think they have seen it all before, but Geoff is probably the best
writer in comics at the moment at returning characters to their iconic
cores while, at the same time, completely refreshing them. There are a
lot of elements that have accumulated around the character over the
years which have had the effect of obscuring what was originally at
it's core.

Again, we are moving into controversial territory here, but a good
example is when Clark was "retconned" (horrible word) into the school's
athletic hero. Now, at that point, he didn't know that he was from
Krypton, but he did know that he had superpowers. So the question
arises, "What kind of guy, knowing that he has superpowers, goes out
and beats regular kids in order to make himself the schools's star
athlete?" You could answer "Troubled" if you were being very charitable
or something a little stronger if you weren't, but it certainly isn't
the kind of thing you'd expect from Superman. Forget the red herring
about the possibility of injuring other kids. Even a young Superman
should be beyond that kind of egotism and narcissism. It would take a
more heroic person to pull back from using his power and take the flak.

And yet, many readers cannot accept a hero that is "uncool" in any way,
even in his distant past. Personally, I think it makes the character
more relatable and brings him closer to humanity.

NRAMA: We were re-introduced to the supporting cast of the Daily
Planet in this issue in a five-page scene that takes place in a
conference room. How did you keep that scene from feeling like talking
heads?

GF: Again, Geoff and I talked about these characters a lot. By
the time they hit the page they had taken on a life of their own and it
was possible to see how the they would look and behave in these
situations.

NRAMA: The way you drew Cat said volumes about who she is now.
Can you describe the character and what you were trying to say about
her in your choice for her look? The barrettes, the earrings, the lacy
bra...

GF: Cat is all front. For several reasons (the death of her son
being one) she has chosen to rebuild herself. Her role as the
flamboyant Gossip Columnist has led to a persona that is all about
distraction and assumed sexuality. It is a great way of dealing with-
and manipulating- men, as I'm sure we've all seen in real life, but I
don't know how much of it really touches her. I mean, I don't know how
blurred the line is in her own head between the reality and disguise.
Have you ever seen an outrageous, over-the-top personality and thought,
that person is is crying inside?

NRAMA: In upcoming issues, will the Daily Planet characters play
a bigger role in Clark's life? And is that something you're enjoying
drawing?

GF: It's the stuff I enjoy most. I love it for it's own sake
but, as a story-telling technique, it serves to make the people
involved seem more grounded and human. You care more when Superman is
in danger if he seems more real to you. And the way to make him more
real his to have him interact with other people.

NRAMA: The wind is clearly changing on the Kent farm in this
issue, and the cover for September's issue featuring Pa Kent with his
son under a foreboding Brainiac-filled moon doesn't bode well for the
Kent family. Is it safe to assume there will be something important
happening with the elder Kents over this story?

GF: It is.

NRAMA: Future solicitations say that the "horrors within
Brainiac's ship are nothing compared to the alien behind it." In the
confrontation between Superman and Brainiac, what are you hoping to
show about Brainiac as a Superman villain, and what do you think he'll
mean to Superman when this arc concludes?

GF: Geoff's plan is that Brainiac will be up there with Lex
Luthor when this is finished. I can't say too much but, on a personal
level, Brainiac will be elevated way above the rest of Superman's
Rogues Gallery.

NRAMA: There is a lot of talk about what's coming for Superman
in 2008, including word of a crossover between the two Superman books
and the Supergirl title. Can you tell us anything about that and
perhaps alleviate fears some readers have about crossovers?

GF: The scare story that is going around is that, from now on,
you'll have to read all three book s in order to follow them. This is not true.

There will be specific crossover stories but they will be
well-flagged so that readers can be on board or not. Around those
specific stories, the books will be able to be read as regular
contained stories.

The main thing is that there is a feeling that the Superbooks need to be more coherent. The Superman in Action must be seen to be the same guy as the one who appears in Superman.
Consequently, events which affect the character in one book must also
be seen to have occurred in the other book. It's all about trying to
create some unity and clarity around the character.

NRAMA: How long are you on this comic?

GF: I'm on the book beyond this arc but, more than that, it's hard to know in this business.

NRAMA: As part of the Superman team now, what are you hoping to
achieve for the character and his world? And what can you tell us about
how you and the other members of the team are achieving that?

GF: Geoff has done a wonderful job so far of moving the
character back to his core. The fact is that Superman isn't around
because he is the oldest superhero. He's still around because he is a gret
superhero. He's the guy that spawned the entire genre and that didn't
happen because it was a mediocre idea. Even though his popularity has
slipped over the years, there is, at the heart, a fantastic character
with a great supporting cast that can be relevant without throwing out
the baby with the bathwater. If you look at Green Lantern I think it's
clear that Geoff really understand where the gold is with these classic
characters.

People talk about things like the relative strength of Superman of the
years and I agree with those that believe Superman should be the most
powerful of all of the superheroes in the DC universe. Certainly, I
don't think he needs to be powered down in order to make interesting
stories. But, at the same time, I think it's missing the point a little.

I'll put it another way. When Captain America is in a room full of
Marvel superheroes, he is always Top Dog, even though his powers are
pretty modest. He could be stood next to Thor, Iron Man, whoever. He is
the one that everyone looks up to. To me, that is Superman, too. Even
de-powered in the Legion arc, he was still Superman. Still Top Dog.